Spot A Phishing Email

Introduction

Dear Friend,

I am Prince Fayad Bolkiah, the eldest son of Prince Jefri Bolkiah, former Finance Minister of Brunei, the tiny oil-rich sultanate on the Gulf Island of Borneo.

Have you received an email like this before? You probably have, it’s just gone into your spam folder. If you do ever receive an email from Fayad or another prince of Nigeria, don’t respond, it’s a scam.

Here are a couple of tips that should set off a red flag immediately:

Steps
(5 total)

1

The phisher is asking for personal information.

If you receive an email asking you to click a link and enter your username and password, it’s probably a phishing attempt. If you get a phone call from the IT guy asking for your password, ask to call him back at the number you have for him.

2

They are offering you a lot of money if you give them a little.

You did not win the UK lottery, Prince Fayad did not pass away and leave his fortune to you and no one is going to give you 75% of their fortune if you let them use your bank account to transfer it to America. Generally, if it looks to good to be true, it's not true.

There is a link redirecting you to a different URL.

Just like the email address domain, if they are asking you to follow a link, don’t do it. “PayPal.com/surveys” is fine. “PayPal.com.surveys” is not fine. Watch your dots. A good way to get around this is to type in a URL to the organization instead of clicking on links.

5

Call the institution.

If you are ever not sure about an email, give the institution it is supposed to be from a call and verify that it is actually from them.